Finland and China agreed to abandon all restrictions on routes and waypoints for air travel, giving carriers operating in the Nordic country more freedom to choose their destinations in China.

The announcement is welcome news for national carrier Finnair Oyj, which like the rest of aviation industry, has been heavily hit by the pandemic. The airline has staked its strategy on providing faster transit connections between Europe and Asia, banking on shorter travel times thanks to a more northerly flight path. 

The countries also agreed to increase the number of weekly routes to Shanghai from Finland to 14 from seven, according to an emailed statement from the government in Helsinki. There’s still a cap of 43 weekly flights to China in total, Paivi Jamsa, chief senior specialist at the Ministry of Transport, said by phone.

In practice, the new routes can be deployed once pandemic-related travel restrictions are lifted, the government said.